Innersoles for welt shoes



July 26, 1955 G, E, Musi-:BECK 2,713,730

INNERSOLES FOR WELT SHOES Filed Sept. 4, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheeil l 23 INVENTOR.

2.3/20 y f/gm( July 26, 1955 G. E. Musi-:BECK

INNERSOLES FOR WELT SHOES Filed Sept. 4. 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent O f INNERSOLES FOR WELT SHOES George E. Museheck, Nashotah, Wis., assigner to Musebeck Shoe Company, Oconomowoc, Wis., a corporation of Illinois Application September' 4, 1951, Serial No. 244,969

4 Claims. (Cl. 3622) This invention relates to improvements in the art of manufacturing innersoles for welt shoes.

In the manufacture of welt type shoes the bottom of the innersole must have a stitching ribl projecting therefrom to which the welt, upper, and liner are stitched during the course of manufacture of the shoe. This stitching rib is usually formed by channeling the undersurface of the innersole near the margin thereof and by then bending the material outwardly to form the rib. With this arrangement, however, the bottom of the innersole is weakened along the line of the cut inwardly of the rib and is of substantially less thickness where the rib material has been bent outwardly. During use of this type of shoe a breakdown is very likely to occur adjacent this weakened area causing a ridge which follows along the edge of the sole around the entire forepart of the shoe. With further use, the relatively soft cork or composition filling shifts under pressure causing the foot to become improperly balanced and the weight incorrectly distributed. This results in depressions in the insole where there should be firm support and in humps in the insole where it should be smooth. As a result the foot is supported on a ,surface which does not conform to the natural contour of the foot and balanced tread is impossible. In addition, the ridges which have appeared press into the foot and cause pain. Due to the uneven weight distribution the foot is urged out of position causing a running over of the shoe on its outer side. All of this is an indirect result of the weakening of a portion of the innersole by cutting out material to form the stitching rib.

In recent years a new type of procedure has been developed where a separate strip of rib forming material such as leather is .taped onto the underside of the innersole. In this method of procedure as well asin the first described, the several thicknesses of material which are connected by stitching to the stitching rib in the iinal assembly of the shoe are more or less crowded into a space which is unsufiicient to accommodate this many layers, with the result that curling or buckling of portions of the shoe may sooner or later occur during use.

In copending application Serial No. 224,994, filed May 7, 1951, which has matured into Patent No. 2,703,460, granted March 8, 1955, a construction is disclosed wherein there is a beveled edge on the lower side of the innersole at the margin thereof, which beveled edge is designed to decrease some of the above mentioned difficulties.

lt 'is a generalobject of the present invention to provide a more effective construction and method of manufacture which makes the taped on rib arrangement entirely practical. Thus the disadvantages of the channeled out in seam ridge and the consequent weakening of the innersole are eliminated, and as a result of the present invention the usual crowded condition near the outer side of the stitching rib is eliminated.

A further object of the invention is to provide a .shoe construction as above described which results in a shoe edge having less thickness, and which is therefore more attractive.

jififii Patented July 26, i955 A further object of the invention is to provide an irnproved innersole construction which is relatively `simple and inexpensive to manufacture and which makes it practical to use substitute materials on all or part of the innersole.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide an innersole construction which may comprise either a single layer or plural layers, and wherein a marginal portion of the underside or of the bottommost layer, when two layers are used, is removed to provide a rabbetted edge having a shoulder, there being a separate stitching rib secured beneath said bottom layer directly adjacent the edge thereof with the outer side of said rib in alinement with said shoulder and with the tape extending downwardly against said .shoulder and then outwardly against the bottom of the portion of reduced thickness.

A further object of the invention is to provide an innersole construction which makes it possible to effectively utilize a corrective wedge, with a portion of the stitching rib secured to the underside of said corrective wedge.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an insole having its under surface skived or buffed from a point adjacent the heel to a point beyond the ball of the foot near the first metatarsal to urge the big toe toward the inside of the shoe and thereby prevent the shoe from running over on the outside.

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction as above described wherein, when a corrective insert is employed, it is also buled or skived in a manner to coact with the before-mentioned skiving on the innersole proper to aid in preventing bunching and in causing proper weight distribution.

Tvit/ith the above and other objects in View the invention consists of the improvements in the art of manufacturing nnersoles for welt shoes, and all of its parts and combinations, as set forth in the claims, and all equivalents thereof.

in the accompanying drawings, illustrating one complete embodiment of the preferred form of the invention, wherein the same reference numerals designate the same parts in all of the views:

Fig. l is a plan View looking at the bottom of a laminated innersole after marginal edge portions of the bottom layer have been removed to form a shoulder which is spaced a short distance inwardly from the margin of the innersole, part of the bottom layer being broken away to show the laminated construction;

Fig. 2 is a View similar to Fig. l after marginal edge portions have been skived;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of a shaped and skived wedge piece which may be used in conjunction with the improved innersole construction;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the wedge piece of Fig. 3 applied to the innersole of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a sectional View taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. l;

Fig. Fig. 2;

Fig. Fig. 4;

Fig. Fig. 4;

Fig. 9 is a plan view looking at the bottom of the innersole showing the separate inseam rib being taped in position thereon.

Fig. l0 is a plan view looking at the bottom of the innersole showing a completed innersole construction, part of the tape being removed to show the material therebeneath.

Fig. ll is a sectional View on an exaggerated scale taken on the line 11 11 of Fig. 9;

6 is a sectional View taken on the line 6 6 of 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 7 7 of 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 8 8 of Fig. 12 is a fragmentary sectional view through a completed shoe illustrating the improved construction; and

Fig. 13 is a View like Fig. l1 showing the construction used in an innersole which has one layer only.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the improved innersole construction may be of single thickness of sole leather, upper leather, fiber, felt, or composition material as in Fig. 13 or it may be laminated to include two or more layers of suitable material adhesively secured together as is illustrated in the other views. In the embodiment illustrated in Figs. l to l2 inclusive two layers are employed, an upper layer 15 and a bottom layer 16. It is preferred to have the upper layer formed of leather and to have the lower layer 16 formed of a less expensive and more easily obtained material and preferably a processed material which has uniform characteristics such as ber or felt.

Initially pieces of material which are of larger outline than is shown in Fig. 1 are secured together. Next, they are cut to the shape of the last. After this has been accomplished, then a narrow strip of the bottom layer 16 is removed adjacent portions of the margin of the shoe so that after such removal the resulting edge of the bottom layer forms a shoulder 17 which is spaced inwardly from the edge of the upper layer 15. It is simple and convenient to remove substantially the entire thickness of the bottom layer 16 when forming the shoulder 1.7, but it is within the scope of the present invention to remove less than the entire thickness. The resulting construction forms a rabbetted edge. As shown in Fig. 1 the shoulder 17 is formed on the outer side of the innersole from a point 18 adjacent the front of the heel around the toe of the shoe to a point 19 on the opposite side.

The innersole illustrated is a type which is provided with an arch supporting extension as is indicated by the numeral 20. Where such arch supporting extension is employed, the shoulder 17 is preferably formed along the entire outer margin of such extension rearwardly to the point 19. The improved innersole construction may, however, be advantageously employed in conventional shoes where there is no arch supporting extension.

After the innersole has been cut as indicated in Fig. 1 it is preferred to skive the marginal edge of the arch supporting extension 2t) as at 21. This skiving preferably extends forwardly to a point 22 just beyond the ball of the foot, so as to urge the big toe toward theinside of the shoe and cause proper weight distribution to prevent running over of the shoe on the outside.

ln the preferred embodiment of the invention the construction incorporates a corrective insert 23. This insert is of improved construction and is illustrated in Fig. 3. It is preferably formed of leather having the shape shown and having its margin skived on its underside as at 23. The skiving extends around the forward end of the insert and terminates at a point 35 which approximately coincides with the front of the heel of the shoe.

The insert of Fig. 3 is adhesively connected to the underside of the innersole of Fig. 2 as is shown in Fig. 4. Referring to this figure, the skiving 21 on the innersole proper and 23 on the insert grades off the edge of the shoe, so as to prevent bunching. The innersole proper is graded off to a point just beyond the ball of the large toe joint (indicated by A in Fig. 4) and lets the large toe slide off toward the inside to prevent the shoe from running over on the outside. By skiving the wedge piece in the manner shown in Fig. 3 there is a full thickness of the wedge material beneath the heel bone, while at the same time the rest of the wedge grades off to reduce the thickness of material near the ball of the foot.

After the wedge piece has been secured in position as shown in Fig. 4 a length of inseam stitching rib material 24, such as leather, is positioned as shown in Fig. 1l so the upper edge of the stitching rib rests against the layer 16 of the innersole with the outer side 25 of the rib 24 ush with the shoulder 17. This arrangement provides difference in levels on the two sides of the stitching rib which allows extra room in the rabbetted recess 26 to accommodate the welt 27 and the lower edges of the upper 28 and lining 29 in the iinal assembly of the shoe as shown in Fig. 12.

With the stitching rib 24 positioned as indicated it is taped in position by the use of a strip of tape 30 which is adhesively secured in position in the manner indicated in Fig. 9. One flange 31 of the tape is glued beneath the bottom layer 16 and the other flange 32 of the tape is glued beneath the layer of material 1S in the recess 26. It is also to be noted that the tape is secured against the shoulder 17. When a corrective insert is being used, as is illustrated in the preferred embodiment of the invention, the tape and rib extend beneath the insert to approximately the front of the heel of the shoe as is illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10.

Following the application of the strip of tape 30 it is preferred to employ an extra layer of tape 33 which is secured against the inner side of the stitching rib only and which overlaps the flange 31 of the layer 30. After the layer 33 has been adhesively secured in position it is preferred to employ a line of stitching 34 which extends close to the inner side of the stitching rib 24 and which passes through both layers of tape, through the bottom layer 16 of the inersole, and through the top layer 15. When a corrective wedge piece such as that of Fig. 3 is employed, the stitching also extends through the wedge piece as is clear from Fig. l0 to bind all of the parts firmly and permanently together.

The construction of Fig. 13 is the same as that heretofore described except for the fact that the innersole comprises a single thickness of material only. This may be sole leather, upper leather, fiber, felt, or a suitable composition material, but is preferably material other than leather as the present invention makes it practical to use such other material. In this form of the invention the recess 26 is formed by cutting away part of the thickness of the single layer at the margin to form the rabbetted edge. In Fig. 13 all of the same reference characters are used as in Fig. 11 except for the material of the single thickness innersole which is designated by the numeral 36.

By use of this improved arrangement where the bottom portion of a single thickness insole or the bottom layer of a laminated innersole is cut away at the margin to form a rabbetted edge, the resulting recess 26 provides ample room to accommodate the upper, lining, and welt, as is clear from Figs. 11 and 12. In addition it is to be noted that the extreme marginal edge of the innersole is of less than standard thickness due to the fact that the bottom layer 16 has been cut away. This results in an attractive and less bulky looking shoe edge.

The improved arrangement makes it entirely practical to use fiber or composition material for an insole either when the latter is formed of a single thickness or of plural layers. If the conventional method of forming a stitching rib were used, a composition material would not be strong enough to permit the formation of a stitching rib by the process of channeling and bending the resulting material downwardly away from the insole proper.

The skiving of the innersole as at 21 in Fig. 2, with the skiving extending to a point just beyond the ball of the foot results in increased comfort to the user. When this arrangement is employed in conjunction with a wedge piece shaped as in Fig. 3, a shoe construction is provided where the weight of the foot is advantageously distributed to prevent running over of the shoe on its outer side.

The wedge piece of Fig. 3 is an improvement over the wedge piece shown in my prior Patent No. 1,916,198, issued `Iuly 4, 1933, and it is to be noted that the present innersole construction makes it easy to extend the stitching rib beneath such a wedge piece. However, the construction of the present invention may be advantageously employed either with or without a corrective wedge piece.

Various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and all of such changes are contemplated as may come within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. An innersole for shoes comprising at least two thicknesses of material one of which constitutes a bottom thickness, the innersole having a rabbetted edge portion on the bottornmost layer around a portion of the marginal edge of said layer, to thereby provide a shoulder which is spaced inwardly from the marginal edge of the insole, a separate stitching rib secured to the undersnrface of the bottom layer of said innersole with the outer side of the stitching rib substantially flush with the shoulder formed by the edge of said bottom layer, and means including tape for maintaining said stitching rib in position.

2. An innersole for shoes comprising: an innersole body having a rabbetted edge portion to thereby provide a shoulder on its underside which is spaced inwardly from the marginal edge of the remainder of the insole, a separate stitching rib secured to the nndersurface of said innersole inwardly of the shoulder with the outer side of the stitching rib ush with the shoulder, and means including tape extending into said cut-away portion and against said shoulder for maintaining said stitching rib in position.

3. An innersole for shoes comprising: an innersole body having a rabbetted edge portion to thereby provide a shoulder on its underside which is spaced inwardly from the marginal edge of the remainder of the insole, and a separate stitching rib formed of inseam stitching rib material and having an elongated liat portion secured to the undersurface 0f said innersole just inwardly of the shoulder with the outer side of the stitching rib i'lush with the shoulder.

4. An innersole for shoes comprising at least two thicknesses of material one of which constitutes a bottom thickness which has its marginal edge spaced inwardly from the margin of the remainder of the innersole around a portion of said margin to thereby provide a shoulder which is spaced inwardly from said margin of the remainder of the innersole, a separate stitching rib secured to the undersurface of the bottom layer of said innersole with the outer side of the stitching rib substantially flush with the shoulder formed by the margin of said bottom thickness, means including tape for maintaining said stitching rib in position, and stitching adjacent said rib extending through said tape and through all of the layers of the innersole.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 642,929 Seaver Feb. 6, 1900 1,105,694 Prenzel Aug. 4, 1914 1,744,322 Mattos Ian. 21, 1930 1,896,531 Valentine Feb. 7, 1933 2,106,845 Hopkins Feb. 1, 1938 2,109,706 Musebeck Mar. 1, 1938 2,242,868 Musebeck May 20, 1941 2,336,155 Ayers Dec. 7, 1943 2,352,715 Jalbert et al. July 4, 1944 2,413,534 Watson Dec. 31, 1946 2,440,273 Hukill Apr. 27, 1948 2,595,894 Sherbrook May 6, 1952 

